Act Your Age
by la z boy
Summary: After a De-Aging Potion de-ages Fred, George, Ron & Ginny by 10 years, Hermione must survive an afternoon of pranks and mayhem.  One-shot.


**A/N: This is a re-post of the story, which I wrote back in July, with a few alterations.**

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_**ACT YOUR AGE**_

It was a fine summer day at The Burrow, with sunshine streaming in brilliantly through every window. The seventh year of Hogwarts for Harry, Ron and Hermione was fast-approaching, and that was the main thing on Hermione's mind as she walked along a hallway on one of the upper levels of The Burrow, dressed comfortably in a long-sleeve shirt with sideways-stretching brown and tan stripes that went with her pair of jeans. She had arrived there a day earlier, and Harry was due sometime soon as well. But until then, it was just Hermione and the Weasleys.

An excited hum of chatter reached Hermione's ears as she walked past a cracked doorway. The voices belonged to the Weasley children, those being Fred, George, Ron and Ginny. Out of curiosity, Hermione double-backed and pushed the door open fully so that she could discover the source of the conversation.

What she found was the sight of the four Weasley siblings gathered around a dust-covered baby crib, their arms either folded across their chests or positioned against their hips. Each one was regarding the crib with a sense of nostalgia.

Hermione came up behind them. "Hey. What's going on here?"

"Mum was doing some cleaning up in the attic and found this," answered Ginny. "It's the crib that's been used for all of us at some point."

"Ah," Hermione nodded as she stepped closer to the wooden creation. It was a known fact that the Weasley family were relatively poor, so it made sense that baby items such as a crib would be handed down from sibling to sibling.

"It even has a few unopened packs of diapers inside," said Fred with a hint of amusement.

"Must have been the extras she bought but never used," George mused.

Indeed, inside the crib there were three packs of diapers with an unbroken seal. At the same time, Hermione took notice of the space; the crib looked big enough to hold probably three babies.

"Brings back memories, doesn't it?" Fred said fondly.

Hermione looked from the diapers to the Weasley twins, an uncomfortable expression coming across her face. "Uh…if you guys are going to start talking about _that_ kind of stuff, then maybe I should just leave you to it." She began backing out of the room.

"No, they didn't mean _those_ kinds of memories, Hermione," Ron said amusedly with faint chuckles cutting through his voice. "They're talking about memories we have of us when we were kids."

George laughed. "Yeah, we mean when we were eight or so. All of our baby memories just consist of giggling and farting."

"Oh." Hermione walked back toward the crib, slightly embarrassed at how her mind had worked just then. "I can't imagine how much of a handful the four of you must have been as kids."

Fred and George shared a devilish smile. "Yep," said George, "we would always drive away babysitters within two visits. It drove Mum crazy, too."

"Yeah," agreed Fred, "pretty soon, it became hard to find people who would babysit us willingly."

"It wasn't just them," added Ron. "When I was young, I would lead by Fred and George's example. That is, until they started pranking _me _in return."

"Well, you were becoming a nuisance." George nudged Ron's arm in a brotherly gesture. "We had to get rid of you somehow. But anyway, we were at an age where we had to vent our…mischievous nature out on someone. Babysitters just seemed the easiest target."

Hermione huffed. "Well, it sounds like you needed discipline more than anything else. All your pranks must have discouraged your babysitters, made them afraid to discipline you. Why'd you do it?"

"Hermione, Hermione," Fred sighed as he shook his head. "You don't understand. The pranks were, and still are, a part of who we are. It wasn't anything personal, it was just our way of expressing ourselves."

Hermione rolled her eyes and crossed her arms exasperatedly.

"What, you think you could've done a better job of babysitting the Weasley clan?" George asked.

Hermione shrugged. "I think so. It's just a matter of respecting the kids and showing that you can relate to them."

Fred and George scoffed.

"With all due respect, Hermione," Ginny spoke up, "I don't think _anyone _could have controlled Fred and George. It wasn't just them, but Ron and I were pretty crazy as well. I guess you could say being rambunctious as a kid is encoded into the Weasley DNA."

"You can talk all you want about babysitting us, Hermione," said Fred. "But there's really no way of knowing if you could've reined us in or not."

"If only there was," Hermione replied.

"Yeah," said Ron. "If only."

Mrs. Weasley's high-pitched outcry from below in the kitchen broke the silence that had settled over Hermione and the Weasley children. "Oh, Arthur!"

That outcry caused all of the teenagers to race out of the room and take the steps leading downstairs two at a time until they were in the kitchen. The sight awaiting them was one of Mr. Weasley seated at the kitchen table, blackened by what looked like soot with smoke billowing off of his clothes; it was as if he had just emerged from a rather powerful burst of Floo Powder. But the trails of blood that streaked down parts of his body suggested a more sinister scenario.

"Dad!" exclaimed Ron. "What happened?"

Mr. Weasley took a few labored breaths while motioning at a large glass beaker with a cork plugged into the top. The beaker contained a light blue liquid that fizzed much like a soda. Mrs. Weasley, meanwhile, was busying herself with preparing wet cloths to use to clean up her husband.

"Another raid," said Mr. Weasley exasperatedly. "We hit a suspected Death Eater's house, and he naturally put up a fight." He spread his arms to indicate his current state. Mrs. Weasley set about dabbing at his wounds. "Quite a good one, I might add. Anyway, he ended up escaping, but a quick search of his house turned up this De-Aging Potion. And an illegal one at that. He had his own potion brewery, too. We can arrest him for that as well if we can find him again."

Ginny approached her father worriedly. "Are you hurt badly?"

Mr. Weasley patted Ginny's hand reassuringly while managing a smile, which was more of a grimace. "Nothing too life-threatening, Gin. But I still think I have to pay a visit to St. Mungo's just to be sure."

"Of course you do!" Mrs. Weasley nearly snarled. "These injuries look serious. You need to be examined as soon as possible. I'll take you there myself."

"We're coming, too," said Ron. His siblings all nodded in agreement.

"No!" Mr. Weasley protested immediately. "With all the attacks going on right now, I don't want to risk any of your lives if it's avoidable. Molly and I are admittedly taking a risk ourselves by going out, but we'd like it to be a low risk."

"So I'll take your father to the hospital while the five of you stay here," informed Mrs. Weasley. "I'm not sure how long it'll take, but I'll send a message by owl once we do. I'll also tell you if your father's injuries end up being more serious than they look."

Mrs. Weasley and Fred and George helped Mr. Weasley out of his chair and guided him over to the kitchen door.

"So what are we supposed to do here by ourselves while we wait?" asked Ron.

"Just find a way to keep yourselves occupied and your mind off things," responded Mrs. Weasley. "All of you are old enough that you _don't_ need adult supervision. Just try to keep the house in one piece."

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley stepped out of the kitchen and Disapparated the moment the door closed shut. Hermione was the only one to move.

"I'm going to send an owl to Harry to let him know what happened," she said as she backed toward the door. "I think you should put that De-Aging Potion somewhere safe in the meantime." She exited the kitchen to find Pigwidgeon as well as parchment and a quill.

Fred, George, Ron and Ginny were left alone with the potion in question. Ginny picked up the beaker.

"Okay, where should we put this?"

Ron took it from her grasp. "I'll find a place."

A thought suddenly occurred to Fred as Ron started combing the kitchen for an empty cabinet. "Hold on there, little bro." He swiped the beaker from Ron's hand. "I think I have a better way of disposing of such questionable material."

"What are you on about?" Ron inquired somewhat suspiciously.

"Remember what Hermione said upstairs about babysitting us?" Fred shook the beaker playfully, which caused the potion to jiggle around inside.

"Ahhhh," said George, catching on to his brother's proposition. "Give her the crash course, eh? Put her money where her mouth is?"

"Exactly."

"Wait," said Ginny, holding up her hands. "C'mon, guys, that's too mean."

Ron nodded. "Yeah, Hermione's our friend, she hasn't done anything to warrant an afternoon of torment."

"She tried rather adamantly to shut down our business ventures during our last year at Hogwarts," countered George.

"And she's paid you your fair share of criticisms throughout the years," Fred pointed out to Ron, to which Ron quirked an eyebrow in agreement. "Look, it'll be nothing personal, just a good bit of fun. We all know that if Hermione has one flaw, it's that she can be too bossy and assuming some of the time, right?"

Ron shrugged his shoulders and nodded, with even Ginny doing the same after some reluctant hesitation.

"So think of this more like a…reality check," Fred pressed on. "She can't really say she'd be able to control us as kids unless she's had actual hands-on experience. We're giving her that opportunity."

Ginny bit her lip in contemplation. "You know…the other day, Hermione _was_ a bit condescending when she was talking about grades. It kind of annoyed me. I mean, it's not that I think of Hermione that way all the time, but I guess it wouldn't be too bad if we just have a little fun with her as long as she doesn't get hurt or anything."

George smiled. "That's the ticket, sis. So we're all in agreement on this?" No doubt Fred and George were okay with causing a bit of mayhem just for the fun of it, but obviously Ron and Ginny required convincing.

Ron cleared his throat. "Like Ginny said, as long as Hermione doesn't get seriously hurt or anything, it could do her good to get a little lesson in not assuming she can do anything. Plus, it'll be an interesting way to get her back for all her insults to my intelligence."

Fred uncorked the beaker while George retrieved four glasses from a nearby cabinet. George spread the glasses out on the table and Fred poured the potion into each of them until they were all filled equally. The four Weasleys all took a glass.

"How long do the effects of a De-Aging Potion last?" Ginny asked curiously before any of them drank.

"Depends on the strength of the potion," said George. "Judging from the relatively light coloring, I'd guess this one will only last for a few hours."

"Well," said Fred as he raised his glass in a mock-toast gesture, "bottoms up!"

The twins guzzled down their potion first, and Ron and Ginny hesitantly followed shortly after, draining their glasses as well. For a few seconds, nothing seemed to happen. But the arrival of a weird, bubbling sensation inside the Weasleys' stomachs signaled the start of the transformations.

Fred, George, Ron and Ginny all shrank where they stood, their clothes going along for the ride as well. Pretty soon, four small young kids stood where four teenagers had been only moments before. Every one of them looked around at their surroundings in slight confusion.

"Okay," came Hermione's voice from outside the kitchen, "I sent a letter to Harry, so-…"

Once she reentered the kitchen, Hermione was cut off by the sight that awaited her, the one of the four de-aged Weasleys standing around innocently. Fred and George were the first ones to be noticed, as they looked exactly the same. Ron was a bit less gangly in his youth, with a few more freckles dotting his cheeks. Ginny looked sweet and innocent enough, with bright eyes that complimented an adorable face.

_What happened here? _Hermione thought frantically as she froze in place. Just then, Fred's gaze found Hermione and he cocked his head to the side.

"Who are you?" he asked.

Beside him and George lay the empty beaker that had once contained the De-Aging Potion. It didn't take long for Hermione to catch on to what was going on and who was behind it: _Fred and George._

"And where's our Mum and Dad?" George pressed. Clearly, the potion had affected their minds as well as their age.

"They're…not here," said Hermione nervously. "It's just the four of you and me. How old are all of you?"

"Eight," Fred and George chorused at the same time.

"Six," Ron said.

"Five," Ginny told Hermione, holding out the same number of fingers as she did.

So the potion had de-aged them by ten years. Hermione sighed and rubbed her forehead.

"Who are _you_?" George posed again, slightly bouncing on his feet.

"Hermione."

"So," said Fred slowly, "if our parents aren't here, but you are, that must mean that…you're our babysitter?"

Hermione knew that this was where everything had been going, and yet she couldn't find any way out of it. She couldn't just let four rambunctious Weasley kids run loose around The Burrow by themselves and risk something like them burning down the house. Granted, if she stuck around to play babysitter for however long the effects of the potion lasted, she would most likely end up in the line of fire of all the mischief herself, but at least she would have the chance to keep things as under control as possible.

So it was with trepidation and just a small dose of fear that Hermione answered, "Yes."

The Weasleys surrounded her, smiling sweetly while being in very close proximity. Hermione felt them brush against her as a result. They circled Hermione, and rather delightfully at that. "Want to hear a rhyme?" Fred asked.

"Er…"

The Weasleys stopped moving abruptly. Fred and George stood on either side of Hermione. "We'll tell you anyway. I see Paris."

"I see France," said George.

The twins suddenly grabbed both sides of Hermione's jeans. Hermione gasped as they pulled down her pants at the same time.

"We see your underpants!"

Not five seconds after they panced Hermione did all four of the Weasleys scatter, running away in different directions while laughing quite audibly. Right before they dashed away, Hermione saw devious smirks crack Fred and George's lips especially.

_Great, _Hermione's inner voice groaned as she pulled her pants back up, redoing the zipper and button. _I'm going to skin Fred and George alive once this is all over. _Taking a deep breath to prepare herself, Hermione followed Fred and George's path. She figured those two took priority over Ron and Ginny.

Hermione went from room to room on the bottom level of The Burrow, catching brief flashes of Fred and George's backs as they skirted out of rooms right after Hermione set foot inside them. The twins led her in circles and each time they passed through the kitchen, Hermione worriedly noticed that a few of the cabinets that usually held various foods were open and empty. Hermione wondered how Fred and George could run and raid cabinets so fast during this merry little chase, but her answer came when she reached the entrance to the living room for the fifth time.

George (she could tell it was George by the clothes he had on) was standing with his hands behind his back and a broad, misleadingly sweet smile on his face. Before Hermione could voice her suspiciousness, her legs were tackled from behind and she was forced to the floor. She had been chasing George while Fred collected items that Hermione assumed would soon be used against her.

"I've got her legs, George, hold down her arms!" exclaimed Fred as Hermione felt him sit on the limbs in question while George came forward and held down her arms.

What were they doing? But then Hermione remembered that her wand was stowed away in one of her pants pockets; the usual hiding place for such an object. Just as expected, Hermione soon felt her wand being pulled out of her back pants pocket. Right after that, the pressure of Fred and George was lifted and Hermione was left lying on the floor.

Well, one thing could be said for Fred and George's younger selves: they didn't waste any time. Another thing that could be said for them was that they knew what they were doing. With her wand gone, Hermione was unable to combat their practical jokes with magic. This was as evenly matched as it was going to get.

After Hermione picked herself up, she once again discovered that she was uncomfortably alone with the threat of a prank hanging over her head and poised to strike at any minute. When she started walking again, Hermione only then noticed that her shoes had been removed…for whatever reason. Her attention was diverted to a scurrying sound in the hallway, where she hurried to.

Hermione found her shoes sitting alone in the hallway, no sign of the Weasleys anywhere. She cautiously approached her shoes, keeping an eye out for any indication of traps. However, Hermione wished she had been paying more attention to her shoes because once she stepped back into them, her feet were met with a gooey feeling.

Sighing deeply, Hermione kicked off her shoes to see her socks covered with what looked like chocolate pudding. As she slipped her socks off, Hermione heard Fred and George's laughter behind her by the foot of the stairs. Hermione whipped around to face them.

"Us, two. You, zero," Fred cackled. He and George dashed up the stairs.

"Fred! George! Get back here!" Hermione raced after them, now barefoot. She climbed the stairs quickly until she reached the bedroom level, but Fred and George had already disappeared again. Just then, an owl swooped in from an open window, dropped a piece of parchment at Hermione's feet and flew back out.

Hermione picked up the letter, scanned its contents and frowned. It was from Mrs. Weasley, who said that she and Mr. Weasley wouldn't be back until well into the evening. That meant the four de-aged Weasleys would have ample time to torment her. Hermione had to stop them before they got too out of control.

The doors of each bedroom were closed, but Hermione could still hear amused giggles on the other side of them. Hermione went to Fred and George's room first and tried to open their door, but it was locked; no surprise there.

"Okay, you two, open up!"

"Why should we?" asked one of the twins tauntingly behind the door.

"Because…," Hermione hesitated as she thought of a reasonable-enough excuse, "…because if you do, we can have some fun and play some games!" She added a dash of promising enticement to her voice for extra effect.

"But we _are_ having fun!" the twins replied.

"Yes, but…we can do whatever you want."

There was a pause on the other side of the door. "We're sorry, are you trying to convince us _not _to have our fun with you?" They laughed some more at this.

Clearly, Hermione's ideals of appealing to kids' wants wasn't working on these children, whose wants involved making Hermione's time with them as miserable as possible.

"Because what we _want _is to prank you, just like we do all our other babysitters!"

"Listen, you don't have to prank me, it's not like I'm mean or anything. I just think we can all get along better if you didn't resort to that. Plus, the more pranks you pull on me, the more trouble you get in with your parents!" There was no answer. "Look," Hermione continued, her voice now sharp and stern, "there are certain rules you'll follow while I'm here, or you'll be in _big_ trouble."

Fred and George's door opened to reveal them standing side-by-side. "Let us show you what we think of _rules_."

They both parted, revealing a large model of a train. Hermione's mouth opened in shock as it headed her way, even without a set of tracks. She was knocked on top of it at quite an awkward position and she heard one of the twins say, "All aboard!" before she was taken on a trip.

The train rocked heavily as it descended the stairs, and Hermione made sure to hold tight. The toy then turned and traveled through the living room. While this happened, Hermione looked to get off somehow, but her hands must have mistakenly brushed against a button because a custard pie suddenly jumped up from the caboose and landed right in her face. Next, a hose rose up from the train and sprayed water in Hermione's face full-on. Hermione soon felt liquid being sprayed between her legs; oh, the minds of Fred and George.

The train eventually ended up back at the foot of the stairs, where the twins were calmly waiting. They both looked from Hermione's wet head, then to her butt, which was still sticking out due to how she was positioned.

"You have a nice butt," said Fred, which creeped Hermione out a bit. "Mind if we touch it?"

"YES, I BLOODY MI—"

"Have a cupcake." Fred cut her off by stuffing a cupcake into her mouth. Hermione then felt each pair of hands press against her rear and push her away, back in the same path she just traveled. She was back at the base of the stairs in a matter of seconds, and she chased the twins up them, spitting out the cupcake.

"Okay, you've made your point," Hermione said when she reached their door. "Please stop all of this madness, and I won't tell your parents."

"We can't stop! Don't you know what day it is? It's Get Hermione Day!"

As Hermione was desperately pleading her case, she didn't notice Ginny's bedroom door open just a tad so that the young Weasley girl, stifling her giggles, poked her head out along with a small cylindrical object.

Ginny aimed the object right at Hermione's butt before silently unscrewing the top. Once the top was gone, a burst of purple energy shot out and zapped Hermione's backside.

"Ow!"

Hermione twirled around and ran toward Ginny's door, but Ginny shut it just as Hermione got there. That didn't stop Hermione from banging on the door, so she was once again distracted when Ron did the same thing, hitting Hermione's butt again with an energy blast. Hermione yelped again and raced to Ron's door.

But this time, Hermione heard the door opening behind her. She leapt out of the way right before the energy bolt hit her again, and it collided into Ron's door harmlessly. However, her back was now to Fred and George's door, and they took advantage and zapped her butt one more time.

"Okay, that's it! Everyone out here NOW!"

Surprisingly, the Weasleys obliged and all came out of their rooms, grasping the objects that emitted the energy.

"Give me those!"

Even more surprisingly, the objects were rolled Hermione's way. Making sure to keep her eyes on the kids, Hermione bent over and grabbed one of the objects. The only problem with this was that as she bent over, Hermione distinctly heard a ripping sound, particularly one that sounded like fabric tearing.

"No…" Hermione groaned as she straightened up while the kids laughed. In the mirror mounted on the wall behind her, Hermione could see a straight tear in her jeans right down the middle and it provided a glimpse of her underwear. This was the result of Lightning In A Bottle, the objects that had just been used against her; the lightning bolts must have made her jeans stiff enough to rip.

Fred and George ran away again. Hermione regarded Ron and Ginny briefly and said "Stay here!" before chasing the twins yet again.

She barreled down the stairs, but when Hermione reached the bottom right underneath the last step, she was met with yet another gooey sensation beneath her feet. How were they so fast with this stuff? Then again, Fred and George had a lot of practice.

Grabbing the railing, Hermione lifted her left foot to examine what she had just stepped in. Whatever it was, it was colorless and thick. But a quick sniff soon informed Hermione that it was honey. Hermione took a calming breath, carefully stepped out of the honey, and resumed the chase. Only now, she had to hold on to the walls to keep from slipping. Eventually, she was able to wipe her feet off on a rug.

Just then, Hermione noticed what was odd about this scene. The rug was sitting right in the middle of one of The Burrow's hallways, definitely _not_ where it was supposed to be. Cursing her hastiness, Hermione glanced up to see a beaming Fred and George standing in front of the kitchen entrance. George pulled a pair of scissors out from behind his back and held them next to a white string. Grimacing, Hermione looked up.

Seconds later, a downpour of chocolate pudding covered her and gave her a sloppily brownish appearance. As Hermione rubbed the pudding out of her face, she felt Fred and George brush past her. She could do nothing but follow.

"That makes it four to zero!"

Hermione made to follow the twins, but she suddenly stopped. She wasn't going to let Fred and George just lead her around from trap to trap like this. Hermione decided to stop their stretch of madness by abandoning the chase and instead sneaking back upstairs to Ron and Ginny. She arrived at Ron's door, which was open; she figured her knowledge of his personality would help here.

Ron stood in front of her, grinning. "You're all icky!" he said, sticking a finger out at Hermione.

"Yes," Hermione sighed as she shifted some pudding-covered hair away from her eyes. "I know. Look, Ron, I was wondering if you could help me out?"

Ron looked quizzical. "Help you?"

"Yeah, help me…control Fred and George. They're very wild, as I'm sure you know."

"What do you want?" asked Ron.

"I need you to help me catch Fred and George so things can calm down, with no more pranks."

Ron stared thoughtfully up at Hermione, clearly thinking over her proposition. He even tapped his chin with his finger, a gesture that Hermione couldn't interpret. Ron finally smiled, but it wasn't the type of smile Hermione was comfortable with.

"No more pranks? I don't think so. Fred! George! Now!"

Hermione's stomach dropped. "What?"

Suddenly, Hermione was tackled to the floor for the second time that day, three guesses by whom. A gag was placed over her mouth as she sensed two more pairs of hands on her. In addition to the hands, Hermione felt ropes being tied tightly around her legs as her arms were forced behind her and her wrists bound together as well. When it was done, all Hermione could do was wriggle uselessly.

"Nice work, Ron!" Fred congratulated his brother. "We thought she'd be up here when we saw she wasn't following us anymore. We _were _going to make her trip into the dragon dung Dad keeps in the shed."

_Glad I avoided that,_ Hermione thought to herself in relief.

"So, what should we do with her?" asked George.

"Well, George, it seems brown really isn't her color. Let's try something else."

"Yeah!" said Ron. "Let's slime her!"

_Slime me? _Hermione didn't like the sound of that, so she began making muffled sounds of protest through the gag.

"Slime!" Ginny squealed in delight, clapping her hands together.

"We've got some in our room from Zonko's, George. I'll go get it while you, Ron and Ginny stand her up." Fred skipped into his and George's room while Hermione was hauled up and held against the wall by another rope.

_Okay, _Hermione thought to herself, _I definitely do NOT like the Weasleys as children!_

Fred returned moments later with not one, but _six _buckets in tow; not good. He handed one to each of his siblings; he and George took the extra two. After that, Ginny shoved a small stepladder beside Hermione and climbed up it so that she was level with Hermione's head. It was like a firing squad.

"Ready?" prompted Fred.

"Ready!" chorused the other Weasleys.

Hermione closed her eyes right as the first wave of slime hit her. Two more came next, followed by a short pause. Hermione opened her eyes and examined herself to see her front coated in three shades of slime: blue, purple and red. Hermione groaned as Ginny emptied her bucket of green slime over her head.

"Ginny, turn her around!" said George.

Ginny did as she was told and the next thing Hermione knew, her back was just as slimed as her front.

The gag was removed courtesy of Ginny before the Weasley daughter rejoined her brothers. Hermione looked over her shoulder to see Fred and George conspiratorially giving Ginny whispered instructions.

Before she knew it, Hermione was being pushed into Ginny's room, where she fell in front of a bed; Ginny closed the door behind her.

"Wh-what are you doing, Ginny?" Hermione asked nervously. By now, she was fearful of these kids.

"Playing dress-up! You need new clothes," Ginny said rather delightedly. She approached Hermione.

"No, wait!" Hermione proclaimed. "Um, you don't really want to do this, do you?"

Like with Ron, Ginny paused thoughtfully. The answer was what Hermione expected: "Yes!"

Ginny jumped on Hermione, first untying her bonds. But that provided Hermione with the chance she needed. She got to her feet and dashed to the door and exited Ginny's room. Feeling weird in her slime-covered state, Hermione made her way to the bathroom with the intention of washing off as best she could.

Hermione had no choice but to wash off in the shower fully-clothed. Of course, she had spare clothes in her room, but she didn't want to give any of the Weasleys the chance to do something with them. After a while, Hermione stepped out of the shower, clothes now slime-free but nonetheless soaked to the skin. Fortunately, she knew Mrs. Weasley kept an item that was much like a Muggle hairdryer, only for the entire body. Hermione found it and her clothes were dry within seconds.

The sound of chatter drifted up from the kitchen and as Hermione stealthily crept across the hall to Fred and George's room, she figured they were all downstairs partaking in a small victory. But Hermione knew she needed to fight fire with fire, so that was why she made her way into the twins' bedroom to look for prank items. There was nothing immediately visible in the room nor was there anything particularly useful in the closet. So Hermione got on her hands and knees to look under the beds. She soon discovered that was a big mistake.

Something soft and gooey was pressed against Hermione's buttocks and the sudden sensation caused her to gasp.

"Trying to get us back, eh?" George asked in amusement behind her. "Bad idea."

"You _really_ shouldn't have bothered to wash up," said Fred.

Hermione silently straightened up, still on her knees, and reached back to swipe a sample of whatever had just been plastered all over her butt. It was both peanut butter and jelly.

"Why?" she asked rather simply.

"It's just who we are."

"Well, in a minute, you'll all be dead!"

Hermione got to her feet and dashed for the four kids, who ran just as she turned around. She chased them into the room she had been in earlier, with the recently found baby crib. But when Hermione stepped through the threshold, her foot pressed down on something that caused a string to disconnect from the floor and send a thick book falling to the ground, on top of two containers of mustard and ketchup. The heavy book squished the containers and squirted their contents all over Hermione.

The onslaught made Hermione stumble back a few step to the left until something knocked her legs out from under her, sending her tumbling back-first into a tub-like object. Only this thing was filled with baked beans. Hermione shook her ketchup and mustard-stained head to clear it, but didn't have much time to recover before the tub propelled her up into the air and she landed in the crib.

She landed back-first in here, too, with her legs dangling over the sides and Hermione suddenly noticed that a slightly enlarged diaper had been placed over her jeans. She could do nothing but groan in defeat.

"Looks like we're the ones doing the babysitting now!" George's voice came from outside of the crib. "We prepared this while you were in the shower."

"I give up," Hermione sighed. "I'll just wait out the potion here."

Just then, there was a bright blue flash and the sight of the properly aged Weasleys was visible over the sides of the crib.

"Hermione?" Ron asked in a mixture of surprise and confusion. The Weasleys got closer so that they had a better view of Hermione's current state.

"Well, looks like that De-Aging Potion worked," Fred remarked, a smile curving his lips up.

"Now do you believe us when we say that no babysitter could handle us, Hermione?" asked George.

"Yes, you've proved your point," Hermione fumed. "All of you acted your age. Now…GET ME OUT OF HERE!"

The Weasleys obliged and helped her out of the crib. As Hermione walked back to the bathroom, Fred called out after her.

"There's really no need to tell Mum and Dad about this, right?"

Hermione just waved her hand at them in a gesture that showed she didn't really care. For once, she had been proven wrong about something. There was no need to mention it ever again.


End file.
